I like to fall asleep with the television on Nick at Nite. This morning I woke up to a commercial for Tennessee Connections Academy. Connections Academy runs online K-12 “public” schools in all 50 states. At least that’s how it was advertised. Here’s their website for Connections Academy. And here is the website for Tennessee ... Read more
Confronted with a Georgetown University report showing that “the uninsured rate for Tennessean women ages 18 to 44 is more than 12%, compared to less than 9% in many states with expanded Medicaid“, local Rep. Micah Van Huss made comments that left many of us with more questions than answers. Instead of addressing Medicaid expansion—which ... Read more
I’ve been reading up on Mr. Casada’s “escapades” since becoming the Tennessee House Speaker and I have to admit I am not surprised by them, but I am a bit amazed that our state government doesn’t have any official procedure, in place, to remove a legislator from office. I won’t rehash the majority of scandals ... Read more
On his Facebook profile, Glen Casada lists himself as an “unapologetic Republican.” Considering the explosion of scandals in the last week of the 2019 Tennessee Legislature and his continued excuses for inexcusable behavior, perhaps he should have simply gone with “unapologetic.” For those who haven’t had time to keep up—and there’s been a lot to ... Read more
American democracy is dependent on free and equally accessible quality public education. Without that, the bedrock of what we hold dear would deteriorate. The founding principle of everyone is equal with equal opportunities, a principle we currently aspire to achieve, is only possible by fully funding public education. The first American public school opened in ... Read more
Many big ticket items are on the ballot this year. Almost every seat from the US Senate on down to City Commission have candidates running, vying for your vote. And with the nation focused in on Tennessee to see if Democrats can flip the seat, which would flip the US Senate. Lots of money from ... Read more
Registering to vote is a right of passage for young adults who turn 18. There are scores of voter registration drives on high school campuses to get these young people registered. Yet what they don’t tell students in Tennessee is that unless they stay local, voting in their first election will require many hoops to ... Read more
I know this is a long one, but this is what we’re up against. When a confrontation happens, one of the things you have to consider is how much to share with others about the back and forth. Whom you have the exchange with will factor into that consideration, as will whether the confrontation was ... Read more
Tell the Johnson City Commission that you do not support the proposed anti-homelessness ordinance! The Johnson City Commission has now passed ordinance 4659-18 on it’s second reading. This proposed ordinance would criminalize being homeless by allowing police officers to issue a fine to any homeless person found “camping,” “laying down bedding,” “setting down their belongings,” ... Read more
Rachel Chanel Taylor is a student at East Tennessee State University, currently pursuing a medical degree, but is debating changing her major to social work, or any other degree program where she believes she can help people in their day-to-day lives. For her, that is more important than any six figure paycheck. Rachel has survived ... Read more
